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Milestone – verdict on Lawrence murder

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Summary of story from The Guardian, January 3, 2012

Following the convictions of two men yesterday for the racist murder of her son in London in 1993, Doreen Lawrence said they were not a cause for celebration: “How can I celebrate when my son lies buried?”

Speaking outside the Old Bailey in central London, after the convictions of Gary Dobson and David Norris, Mrs Lawrence pointed out that:

“Had the police done their job properly, I would have spent the last 18 years grieving for my son rather than fighting to get his killers to court.”

Stephen Lawrence was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack by a gang of white youths as he waited at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London, with a friend.

His murder – which highlighted racism, incompetence and an apparent vein of corruption in the Metropolitan police – radically changed the face of policing in the UK.

Former mayor of London Ken Livingstone said: “This has been a momentous and long-overdue verdict. In the course of their dignified campaign for justice, Doreen and Neville Lawrence have changed many lives, and altered the terms of how we think about racism in our country.

“Institutions and individuals, including, of course, the Metropolitan police, had to re-examine how they work.”

Paul Anderson-Walsh, head of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, said: “Whilst Stephen’s death has become a metaphor for individual and institutional racism, Stephen’s mother is a metaphor for the very best of British values: dignity, courage and sheer tenacity.”

Clive Efford, Labour MP for Eltham, where the attack took place, said: “The new technology and science that is available to us means that convictions like this are possible.

“That was the reason double jeopardy was introduced, because the technology was allowing us to go back and review some previous court decisions and in the case of murder it was decided that we should be allowed to use that new science.”

The forensic scientists who unearthed new evidence leading to the convictions said they were “hugely” proud.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said:”… we must never allow ourselves to become complacent about the threat of racism. And we must continue to confront it, in all its forms.”

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